Federal prosecutors announced on Friday that they are dropping all charges against an American-Chinese physicis university professor accused of stealing American patented technology. The U.S. government claims that it has received additional information, which merits the dismissal of the case.

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Xi Xiaoxing was reportedly working as a physics professor at Philadelphia's Temple University when federal authorities arrested him in May of this year. In court, he entered a not guilty plea.

The U.S. government was convinced that there was enough evidence to send Xi to 80 years in prison. Prosecutors presented an equipment schematics, which they claim is a pocket heater. Xi is under contract not to reveal the inner workings of the device. Prosecutors say numerous emails sent by Xi to Chinese scientists provides evidence of his plan to give the pocket heater technology to China.

However, prosecutors were later informed that the schematics they had seized from Xi was not the pocket heater. With their main evidence discredited, the Justice department has no choice but to set the Physics professor free. The emails were also said to be routine correspondence between academics and no secret information was passed.

Xi questioned the way the U.S. authorities rushed to prosecute him with evidence, which had not been verified by independent experts. He added that his personal and academic standing have been impugned because of his arrest.

Zane D Memeger, a spokesperson for one of the prosecutors, did not give any specific reason for dropping the charges. The U.S. government, however, can still prosecute Xi again if new evidence against him emerges.

Peter Zeidenberg, the lawyer who defended Xi in court, agreed that the pocket heater technology is something that many people would not understand. But he chided the prosecutors for not verifying the evidence first before they indicted his client.

Xi maintained his innocence after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents stormed his residence and arrested him. When he and his lawyer were presented with the evidence, the professor immediately knew that the U.S. government made a mistake.

The professor and his lawyer were able to assemble a group of scientists including one of the inventors of the pocket heater to convince the prosecutors that they are holding different schematics.

Tagschinese espionage, pocket heater, us patented technology, xi xiaoxing, Temple University, pocket heater schematic, american-chinese physicist, US-China trade dispute, US-China relations, chinese spies